Opportunity
by thefandomchick95
Summary: Kaitlyn doesn't want to go to Texas for the summer, but after the death of her best friend last year, she doesn't want to go home either. Once she arrives at Rooster Teeth in Austin, she realizes that she's not alone, and she will not be alone as she works to success.
1. Preface

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." -_Lilo and Stitch_

For those who have been reading this and were disappointed that I deleted it, I apologize for doing so. This story is going through some editing that I'm afraid I can't leave on . I also dedicate this fanfiction to of Monty Oum, who passed away on February 1st, 2015, and his family, who made him to be the kind, creative genius he was with Rooster Teeth. He will be forever missed. Monty, if you're watching your friends now, please be proud of them. Without you, they would never have gotten so far. Thank you.


	2. April 26, 2016

Testing Journal,

Today was the last day of classes, and boy, do I have a lot to do in order to keep my GPA up. I haven't felt so anxious before I came to Rollins. Honestly, every exam I had at college made me scared as hell. High school was a joke, but when you're studying for an English degree at a liberal arts college, every day is a day of survival. My scholarship depends on me being successful. Oh, now, I'm making you think that I'm really not that social as the average person. The truth of the matter is I'm very social, and I have six beautiful friends who keep me alive and focused, and I'll introduce them in the order I first met them.

February seventeenth, 2014, I met Luis Guerrero, my first college friend. We didn't start our semester year until August of 2014, but we've gotten very close on Accepted Students Day (what Rollins calls the visiting day for future students). To make it short and simple, he's Venezuelan by heart but American according to his six-year citizenship in the country. He's getting a degree in Psychology in the next two years, but he should get a degree in Art and Video Games after watching him play.

August twentieth, 2014, I met the Lebanese (not really)-Hondorian, Juan Diego Medrano, but he wants to be called Diego. He said that he only gets to be called, "Juan Diego," if his parents have found a way to punish him. Our meeting was something I would call an "on the street click." I was actually conversing with a person who I met on Facebook when Diego mentioned an anime that I finished watching before I came to Florida. When he also said that he was majoring in English, I found my Rollins brother.

I met Miranda Ruoqing Liu through Diego since those two lived in the same dorm during our freshman year. She is the most adorable Chinese, English-majoring girl I have ever met. You just can't get mad at her. Well, I suppose that's because she hasn't done anything wrong.

I met Alexandra Wible and Neeraj Chatlani through Luis. Alex is a Floridian native, and Neeraj came from Trinidad. Alex was my sophomore roommate. Neeraj lived across from Luis our freshman year. Neeraj dreamed of doing research with actual scientists; Alex couldn't care less. What they both have in common is that I have no idea what they're majoring in, and I have been friends with them for over a year now.

Saisha Rattan and I shared two classes our first year, and August will begin the last year I'm ever going to see her. Because of the credit she received from Trinidad (yes, she and Neeraj are practically neighbors), she will be considered a senior next year. I suppose that's what you get for majoring in Mathematics. I barely saw her after freshman year, but Diego helped us get back together.

Every single one of these weirdos is my crutch if I fall. They say the first few weeks at college make a new student homesick. With Luis, Diego, Miranda, Alex, Neeraj, and Saisha at my sides, I didn't feel a thing of that. I mean it, I do.

After my last class, I found Luis coming out of the Campus Center and running towards the Post Office. I made it to the door first, so he bumped right into me. My head smacked the glass. "Ow!"

"Oh my god, Kaitlyn, I'm so sorry!" he shrieked, "Are you okay?"

"What would you think after I get a concussion? Why were you running like a psycho anyway? It's Tuesday."  
"Yeah, and I have to check my mail." Luis opened the right center door and let me go into the building first. Wow, what a gentleman he was after he pushed me into the glass in the first place.

"That's a reason to hurt me?" I furiously replied in question.

"I didn't do that on purpose first of all. Second of all, I'm not in a rush to get the mail just because. I'm in a rush to see if I got something special."

I headed towards my mailbox, and Luis went to his. We were near each other, so we still had our conversation at normal volume. "Please tell me that it doesn't have to do with that internship at Rooster Teeth."

"Ah, but my dear, it does. This is the chance of a lifetime, and you don't see it."

"You're right. I don't see why it's exciting to work for a company of alcoholics." I flipped the miniature door open, and there were two envelopes sitting in the cuboid container. There was another card from my family. I bet it was just to congratulate me on my second term, so I didn't open it just yet. I was hoping for some money for the computer because I need it. The second envelope turned my stomach.

Okay, confession time. Before the second half of the semester started, Luis discovered that the founders and heads of Rooster Teeth are looking for young interns for the summer. Luis Guerrero is the biggest fan of Rooster Teeth on the planet, and when the others aren't interested in the topic, it all falls onto me. The boy was so excited that he got every one of us to apply for the internship. I was not excited at all. Did I really want to work for a company who has shows based on nothing productive for society? Of course not. _Red vs. Blue_ and _RWBY_ are completely ridiculous. How do people enjoy that crap? I knew Luis was going to throw a fit if I didn't join in the fun.

Well, there was a reason why I sent my letter and resumé anyway. Last summer, Mom forced a resumé on me and got me an internship at Legg Mason in Baltimore, Maryland. Considering that I'm from New Jersey, it's more tiring to stay away from home for three days and return for weekends and Mondays. If I get accepted for Rooster Teeth, I won't have to go back. Yeah, it's a "screw you" to Mom, but she doesn't understand that I don't want to be counting stock market money. What Rooster Teeth does offer is a chance to let me improve on my theater arts skills because I work with shows and all that whatnot. I guess it helps that I'm getting a degree in English, too. Half of me wants to be accepted and half of me doesn't. My adult life is a complete struggle right now, and I'm pissed about it.

"Kaitlyn!" screeched Luis.

"Goddammit! What?" I responded, trying to catch my breath.

"They sent me a response!" He got out his semi-outdated iPhone 5 and started pressing the screen. "It's official. Group meeting in Elizabeth tonight. We all have to know who's in."

* * *

The group text Luis sent to all of our phones stated to be in the Elizabeth Hall lobby at nine that night. I came downstairs with Alex, and Miranda, Diego, Saisha, and the head of the group were already in the room. Neeraj was the last to come because it was quite a walk from the Sutton Apartments. Only lucky upperclassmen get apartments.

Luis stood up and cleared his throat. "Right then, you know why we are gathered here tonight. I'm sure all of you checked your mailboxes and got these babies," he announced, tapping on his slip.

We all rose our sealed letters into the air.

"Perfect. Now, this is going to determine our futures. We either go to Texas or go back home to where we came from."

"Luis, I highly doubt a company is going to accept Florida college students," said Diego.

"Listen here, Flebanese. Nobody asked who and where Rooster Teeth wants its workers. It clearly stated that they needed people eighteen and older to work for the summer."

Miranda leaned over towards me just to ask, "Did he just put fake and Lebanese together?"

I only shrugged.

"Well, why don't you open yours first?" Neeraj suggested. "Clearly, you are the one who wants this most."

"Then, circle clockwise," Saisha added.

"Good idea," announced Luis, "Why didn't I think of that think of that sooner?"

Alex replied, "Because you were just excited about getting a letter with just the Rooster Teeth logo."

I nudged my roommate and whispered, "Alex, that was a rhetorical question."

Luis cleared his throat harshly, and we all stiffened. His thumb broke the sealed top and ripped it until the whole letter could be pulled out without an issue. The paper unfolded out of the thirds. I could see the black, typed lettering, but it was still hard to read from the back. His eyes were skimming through the letter for the magic words. Let's be honest with ourselves: No one cares about anything in an acceptance letter except for the words "accepted" and "denied." After a moment of silence, Luis squeaked and stopped breathing.

"Lui?" I said, "Lui, don't die on us. What is it?"

Still silent, he turned the paper around, so we all could take a gander at what made the room so awkwardly quiet. Diego and Alex leaned their upper bodies forward.

Diego: "Oh my god…"

Alex: "It's a yes!"

Saisha, Miranda, and Neeraj gasped and squealed. I do admit that I was even happy for him. We all jumped off of the couch and wrapped arms. Because Saisha the shortest of the seven (I'm four feet eleven inches, and it looks like Saisha is four foot nine at most.), Luis carried her for a hug.

"Congratulations, Lui," I told him, gasping for breath.

He couldn't even respond. His joyful tears ended up in Saisha's hair. When Luis could finally talk to us, his voice was scratchy, and he barely formed words. "This…this…this is the best day of my life." Luis removed his glasses and rubbed his brown eyes dry. "I…I don't know what to say right now."

"It says to call or email any of them if you have any issues with your summer schedule," Diego informed.

"Which I don't think I do."

"And it's signed by all founders," added Neeraj, "Burnie Burns."

Saisha: "Matt Hullum."

Alex: "Geoff Ramsey."

Miranda: "Joel Heyman."

I stared at the letter and finished the name call with, "And Gus Sorola. The Gustavo Sorola. You should be proud, Lui."

Luis took three deep breaths and borrowed two of Miranda's tissues. "Okay…okay. Enough me time, I brought all of you here to let us all figure out what's happening. Neeraj?"

The science freak ripped the right side of the envelope off and yanked his letter right out. He unfolded the top flap first, searching through the little that it had, and opened the rest. Neeraj is one of the most casual guys I have ever met. He doesn't express negative emotion unless it is serious. The only sign we got from him about the letter was a slow shaking of the head.

"You're not joining me in Texas?" Luis asked.

"Sorry, Luis."

Miranda cupped her mouth.

Saisha starts shaking like a leaf. "I don't want to open mine now."

"Come on, Saisha," Diego said, "You have a job back at home."

"Yes, but this is a bigger deal."

"Just rip it open and look at the bottom of the letter," said Luis.

That was what Saisha did exactly. That didn't mean it brought good luck to the table. She was the second to get denied a position with Rooster Teeth.

Miranda was next. Before she opened hers, she blew into her hands and rubbed them together. The warmth was supposed to bring luck and confidence. It led to another letter of denial. Three denied applications so far, and it was easy to hurt for them.

Diego opened his, but he didn't offer us any hints of what it said. "Why do I have to tell you?" he questioned.

"Because that's what we agreed on," Luis answered in a hiss, "If it's a no, then say it."

"That's the point. It isn't."

Our widened eyes were set aglow. "Accepted?"

One small nod expressed his response.

Alex and Miranda screamed and hugged him around the neck. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"Then…"

"It doesn't matter," I interrupted. "Luis and Diego are going to Texas. That's the good news."

Before it was my turn, Alex opened her letter. Her face grew pale when she was denied a position with Rooster Teeth. If I know Alexandra very well, she always wanted to meet the members of the Achievement Hunter section of the company. "The men," she claims, "are smart and hot." More like immature if you're asking me. Still, I couldn't help but sympathize with the girl. I know how it feels to be completely disappointed because a person wasn't picked for the position he or she really wanted."

"Well, Kaitlyn, the spotlight is on you," Luis said, staring straight into my eyes.

Diego flashed the lockscreen of his phone as if he were a follow spot operator in a theater production. "Open it."

"Open it," repeated Alex.

The others joined in, and those words became a part of my "Words That I Hate" list. I stuck my thumb into the right and ripped the top to the left. I prayed that my letter, whether it was accept or decline, was as professional as the other letters my friends received. If I was accepted, I wouldn't have to work in finance, but I would be working for a bunch of monkeys. If I was denied, I would be saved from embarrassment, but Mom would control the rest of my life.

"What are you waiting for?" my Trinidadian friends snapped.

"My fate," I muttered. I let the letter fall onto the floor and slightly unfold itself before I would pick it up and read it for myself. Time was wasted by starting to read at "Greetings Miss Cherniak." I read it until I spotted the word…

"Kaitlyn, you have been quiet for a long time," Miranda informed.

"Is it yes or no?" questioned Neeraj.

"What's the magic word?" Alex peeped.

My head creeps forward towards my Rollins College family. "They want me."


	3. April 27, 2016

Testing Journal,

Sorry that I haven't written in so long. I have been staying at my grandmother and aunt's house in Apopka for about a week. Plus, I got out of finals and had to get my stuff out of my dorm. I know that Mom is going to call me to ask about my grades, which I don't know about yet since I haven't checked my Foxlink since I got to the house. I'm just not going to bother with it until later. My main mission for today was to get on the plane to go to Austin. Aunt Debra's tardiness didn't help much at all. I already had my bags packed in the car, and she was busy trying to find a good outfit to wear. She did realize that she wasn't coming with me to Texas, right? To make matters worse, my grandma couldn't stop saying goodbye to me. My flight was at noon and according to my cell phone, it was ten-thirty. Again, I'm from New Jersey; we like to be early or on time to everything with a schedule.

With all the traffic that was on the highway, we arrived at the airport at eleven on the dot. Because this is considered the southerners summer vacation, I expect security to be super busy. I didn't help that my aunt was going through the goodbye effect as well. I was going halfway across the country, not going to Alaska. How I managed to get security was a miracle. I just grabbed my bags, said goodbye five times, and ran like Speedy Gonzalez.

I had to check bags before, so it was easy to go up to the check in and hand over the bags to the attendants. When you're a single traveler at Orlando International, security goes by quicker than you think. The guides put me in a separate line, and I just put my carry on bag on the conveyor belt. After security, I checked on my belongings to see if everything was still in it. My phone was lit, and it seemed that I got a text message. It was Diego.

Diego: Do you have a flight that leaves at 12:23 PM today, Kaitlyn?

That was very specific.

Me: Yeah? Why you ask?

The response was fast.

Diego: What gate are you?

Me: Are you a stalker using Diego's phone?

Diego: Kaitlyn, I'm standing right behind you and in front of the trams. Don't believe me, don't check.

I turned around anyway. "Juan Diego, you son of a bitch!"

He couldn't help laughing. "Good to see you, too." Diego hugged me at the side, sitting his head on mine. He has on sweatpants for a change, and a woman's medium-sized Death Note t-shirt. Juan Diego is known for wearing women's shirts because he's skinny as a fucking twig and doesn't gain any weight whatsoever. Actually, the Death Note t-shirt was the one I got for his birthday in November, and he didn't even realize it was a women's fit until he read the tag months later. Still, he had the best idea on dressing comfortably on a plane. I should know since I was wearing yoga pants and a Captain Eo t-shirt.

"Stayed in a hotel here?" I questioned.

"My aunt stayed with me. She wanted to make sure I was okay for two weeks," he responded.

"She's the best, isn't she?"

"Indeed." Diego fetched his ticket from his pocket. "All I wanted to ask is if we were on the same flight today."

"Yet you still make it sound like a B-rated horror movie scene."

The boy evilly snickered. "You know me too well."

I opened the United Airlines app on my phone. Ever since Mom showed me this, I've been using it to show my ticket to people. If it works, I use it. "I don't know about you, but I believe we have the same flight number."

" 'Tis indeed true. What's unfortunate is that our seats are far away from each other." For a person from Latin America, Diego has a stronger vocabulary than I do. I'm an English major, and sometimes, I don't think of using SAT words with friends. Diego makes it a contest to see who speaks more intelligently in the group.

"Yeah, but the flight is only two and a half hours long, Diego. Besides, you got reading to do."

"And writing."

"Well, let's go. I think the plane will board any second, and we haven't even got on the tram yet."

* * *

Our flight started to board at eleven-forty-three, and as Diego stated, he was more towards the back of the plane while I was seated at the left wing. However, I was sitting in the aisle seat; so was Diego. Sometimes, we would look at each other and smile just to see that we were doing alright. I have been on planes in the U.S. for years. Diego hadn't done that as often even though his family moved around a lot throughout his lifetime. He was born in Honduras, but he moved to Rhode Island when he was either eight or nine, and spent the rest of his life in Lebanon until he was a senior in high school, which was when he returned to his home country. His father was a member of the United Nations, so it made a lot of sense why the boy's life was like that. When Diego and I first met, I thought he was American because I didn't hear any other accent than the one I have heard my entire life. There was a bit of thickness, but it was slightly that when having a normal conversation, no one could hear it. Diego wasn't Luis because Luis had to learn the English language when he moved to the U.S. When Diego told me that he was from South America, it had to be a joke. I legitimately thought it was a joke. His two first languages were Spanish and English.

I entertained myself listening to music, writing my latest chapters or short stories, and eating the snackbox, which was my lunch. Every time I listen to my iPod on a plane, time seems to pass faster than a charging horse in empty fields. Before I knew it, the plane was descending into Austin, Texas.

When I got off, I was supposed to get my luggage, but I waited for Diego to get off first. As soon as he came out, we went to the baggage claim together.

"What did you end up doing on the plane?" he asked me.

"Listen to SHINee and suffer from writer's block," I groaned.

"That again? How many projects do you have?"

My reply was, "What did you do that was sort of productive?"

He scoffed. "For your information, I wrote three short stories and started a horror novel."

"Damn it."

"So, Kaitlyn, how many works do you have in progress again? Answer the question, I mean it."

I heavily sighed. "Not counting the fanfiction, eighty."

"It's a shame you know such a high number, Kaitlyn."

"I lack inspiration, alright. What kind of writer am I for lacking in ideas?"

He patted my head and said, "You're stuck is all."

"Managers don't like that. People don't get careers for being indecisive."

"They don't, but if I know you well, when you want to do something, you do it. That's the Kaitlyn I know and adore."

"Adore? Since when do you adore me?"

Diego scoffed once again. "That's a joke, right? Everyone adores you, Kaitlyn. I do because you're the most dedicated and hardworking person I have ever met. Who doesn't want to be you?"

The last thing I say before walking into the baggage claim area was, "Juan Diego, who _wants_ to be me?"

Waiting for your bag when you were in coach the whole plane ride through is the worst. All of the first class fliers get their bags at the beginning of the round always. Seeing the same bags for a long time makes you sea sick, and you're not even at sea!

Diego and I sat against a fat column, boredly waiting for our bags to finally show up. I swear, waiting for bags was like waiting for the star of a concert to come out and perform. I'm staring at the latest email from Rooster Teeth on my phone. It was saying that someone was going to pick every intern up from the airport to take us to the hotel where we were going to be staying when we weren't working at the company. The fortunate thing about that was Rooster Teeth paid the fees for every intern. Thank god. The other part of the message was who was going to interview me tomorrow. Out of sheer and complete luck, I suppose, my interviewer is going to be Burnie Burns. Yes, I got the same person who I called about two weeks ago. I was terrified to meet this guy in person. What if I'm a disappointment in real life? I would not show my face at Rooster Teeth or Austin, Texas ever again.

"Who's your interviewer?" asked Diego.

"Burnie," I answered.

"Isn't he the guy you called to confirm your internship back at Rollins?"

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, Diego."

"He'll be your boss. Of course, it's a good thing. My interviewer is Gus. I'm scared of him."

I burst into laughter. "Why the hell are you scared? You're not scared of anything as far as I know."

"Luis said that Gus wasn't nice. I gave Joel a call two weeks ago, and I thought I was going to get him."

"Oh well. I guess they did it at random after all."

"Maybe."

"Don't use that word, Diego. That word means there's a lie somewhere in the phrase."

"Kaitlyn, "I suppose" doesn't sound natural if said all the time."

Before I could argue, "My bag!" I snatched it off the conveyor belt and sighed out of relief. "Finally!"

"Your entire summer is in that bag."

"Isn't yours like mine?"

Diego calmly went over to the claim and grabbed a larger, black suitcase off the belt. "Yes. Thank you for playing Captain Obvious in the skit of the same name."

"You're hilarious."

"Thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "That was fucking sarcasm."

"I know. I was playing along with you."

"Excuse me."

My friend and I both jerked our heads behind us to an Asian man dressed in black from chest to feet. "Can we help you?" Diego questioned. I wished he didn't ask that because I was afraid that the man was a Jehovah's witness or someone who involved stealing money from the naïve.

"I overheard you two talking about Rooster Teeth, so I came to ask if you were two of our new interns."

I replied, "You work for Rooster Teeth?"

He held his hand out to us. "I'm Monty Oum."

"You mean the Monty Oum who created _RWBY_?" asked Diego, starry-eyed.

"Ah, you're a fan, I guess?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that." My emotionless friend was actually blushing. I never saw him do that before. Did Rooster Teeth have some magical powers or something? My Rollins brother was practically falling on his knees to one of the company's employees. "I'm Diego."

"As in Juan Diego?"

"Yeah, that's my first name."

"Oh, good. Just checking if I got the right person." Monty shook his hand and turned to me. "And you must be…"

"Kaitlyn," I finished.

He took my hand and shook it once. "A pleasure to meet you both. The others are excited to meet you. If you don't mind, we are waiting for one more person to come. She was supposed to arrive before your flight landed, but I haven't seen her…"

"I'm sorry!" A girl shorter than I am pushed her way through the crowd and ran towards us with her suitcase rocking like a ship in a wild storm. She looked like she was fresh out of high school actually. I guess that internship contest was also all out of luck. "I'm so sorry," she said, gasping for breath. "My flight was delayed, and I almost lost my bag. Her face was coated in wetness. The front sides of her hair shone with sweat. However, she had a cute, pale face with wide, puppylike eyes. Every time I look at her, she reminds me of a much shorter version of Miranda.

"Take it easy, sweetie. You look like you're going to pass out." Monty searched his bag and opened a new bottle of water. "Here, drink this." When she did, he asked, "You're Hoshina, aren't you?"

"Hoshina Eisuke, Mr. Oum. I am a big fan of yours. _RWBY_ is genius work." She was joking, right? _RWBY_ was shit.

Monty grabbed his cheek and chuckled. "Thanks. That title is a bit much though." Was he saying that to be modest or hide the fact it was an insult to anime?

"I'm Diego," my friend said, "and this is Caitlin. We are glad to work with you this summer."

The girl blushed. "Oh, thank you."

Monty wiped his hands together and announced, "Well, that's everyone. I have my van parked in the lot, and I'll drive you three to your hotel. The other interns are waiting to finally meet you all."

* * *

Austin is a beautiful city. When they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas," they mean it. I had a feeling that the skyscrapers in Austin were the same height as the ones in New York, but they just looked a lot taller to me. The lake in front of Austin shined like stars in the night sky. As Monty drove us to the hotel, he informed us about the tourist attractions, which included the Barton Springs Pool, the Zilker Botanical Garden, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. I definitely felt like walking around just to get a feel for my summer home.

"It's gorgeous here," I said with a sigh.

"You've never been to Texas?" Diego asked.

"Nope. I've only been to Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts in this country."

"That's still a lot of states," Hoshina joined in. "I live in California, but I was born in Japan."

"So you speak Japanese?"

"Uh, not as good. My mother and father moved to America when I was a baby."

"And never taught you?"

"No. Only English."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry," Diego said, "I'm from Honduras, but English was my first language, too."

Monty steered the van down the streets until it stopped in front of the Hotel San José. It was different from every other hotel I've stayed in. This hotel reminds me of the apartments I had to live in when I was in Rome one summer. They were bungalow-styled according to some research I did of San José online before coming to Austin. I admit that the brush around the building was beautiful. I was just hoping that the rooms were big enough for all the interns.

"Thanks for driving us here, Monty," Diego said as we were exiting the car.

"Don't thank me yet, guys. I still need to get you into the hotel rooms. I don't want the front desk manager to think you're all prostitutes trying to get rooms for work."

"How assuring," I muttered, grabbing my suitcase from the trunk.

"Just make sure you have your ID's out and with you. That's the one thing they'll be asking for when checking in."

I looked down at my carry-on and nodded.

When checking in, it seemed more than obvious that Hoshina and I were sharing a room in this hotel. I was sure that if I shared a room with Luis and Diego this summer, we wouldn't have any problems, but Rooster Teeth didn't know that we were all friends, so I gave them credit for staying safe. We were each given a room key, and we were not to give them out to anyone else.

"Rooster Teeth has provided you with two petite suites, one for each gender, and I hope you behave yourselves in here. We don't get you back in if you do something stupid. Girls get the room on the left; boys are on the right." Monty led us past the stairs and to the left. Va va voom, our rooms were right there at the second left. Our guide handed each of us a white card. "This is my number. If you need anything, just ring me up, and I'll answer to anything you ask."

"Thanks, Monty," said Diego, "We'll repay you with our hard work, I'm sure."

"Oh, you don't have to repay me at all. Coworkers help each other. Well, I'll see you all tomorrow at Rooster Teeth."

"Take care," we all announced together, waving farewell.

"Well, what an interesting day," I remarked with a sigh.

"Interesting?" questioned Hoshina.

"I mean nothing bad happened to us."

"Kaitlyn, you're going pessimistic on us again," Diego warned, rolling his eyes in the process.

The guys' suite door opened, and a recognizable head popped out from behind it. "_Hola_, shorty. _Hola_, Flebanese."

"Luis!" I dropped my stuff and jumped into his arms. "How's life?"

"Being here since yesterday has been good. Did you see some of the sights? The views are beautiful."

"Aren't they?"

Once Luis let me down to the floor, I introduced him to Hoshina and vice versa. Luis introduced me to his and Diego's new roommate. His name was Vishnal Bellanfant, and he was from Boston, Massachusetts, raised by British parents (god, his accent is so thick). He is the oldest out of all of us interns, being twenty-five years old, and he has been attending graduate school for the past three years now. His last year is the upcoming one, and he would complete his Engineering master's degree.

There's supposed to be six interns in total, six guys, six gals. However, there are three beds in Hoshina's and my room, but two have been claimed. "Where is she?"

Luis shrugged. "Turned out she doesn't want to live in a hotel room for the whole summer."

"I don't like the sound of her already," Diego said.

"Maybe she lives in the city and it's just convenient?" suggested Hoshina.

"I don't know, but what I mean is that this chick might be the spoiled bratty type out of all of us. Probably related to one of the Rooster Teeth members, and she slid her money under the table."

"It does sound like that," Vishnal remarked.

"Well, whatever." Luis waved his hand. "What matters is that we are working for a famous entertainment company."

Of course, that's what matters. I was still nervous just talking about it. Burnie was going to find something wrong with me in the interview. I knew it; I completely knew it. I wanted this day to be over, but at the same time, I didn't want to go to work tomorrow.


	4. May 15, 2016

Testing Journal,

Sorry that I haven't written in so long. I have been staying at my grandmother and aunt's house in Apopka for about a week. Plus, I got out of finals and had to get my stuff out of my dorm. I know that Mom is going to call me to ask about my grades, which I don't know about yet since I haven't checked my Foxlink since I got to the house. I'm just not going to bother with it until later. My main mission for today was to get on the plane to go to Austin. Aunt Debra's tardiness didn't help much at all. I already had my bags packed in the car, and she was busy trying to find a good outfit to wear. She did realize that she wasn't coming with me to Texas, right? To make matters worse, my grandma couldn't stop saying goodbye to me. My flight was at noon and according to my cell phone, it was ten-thirty. Again, I'm from New Jersey; we like to be early or on time to everything with a schedule.

With all the traffic that was on the highway, we arrived at the airport at eleven on the dot. Because this is considered the southerners summer vacation, I expect security to be super busy. I didn't help that my aunt was going through the goodbye effect as well. I was going halfway across the country, not going to Alaska. How I managed to get security was a miracle. I just grabbed my bags, said goodbye five times, and ran like Speedy Gonzalez.

I had to check bags before, so it was easy to go up to the check in and hand over the bags to the attendants. When you're a single traveler at Orlando International, security goes by quicker than you think. The guides put me in a separate line, and I just put my carry on bag on the conveyor belt. After security, I checked on my belongings to see if everything was still in it. My phone was lit, and it seemed that I got a text message. It was Diego.

Diego: Do you have a flight that leaves at 12:23 PM today, Kaitlyn?

That was very specific.

Me: Yeah? Why you ask?

The response was fast.

Diego: What gate are you?

Me: Are you a stalker using Diego's phone?

Diego: Kaitlyn, I'm standing right behind you and in front of the trams. Don't believe me, don't check.

I turned around anyway. "Juan Diego, you son of a bitch!"

He couldn't help laughing. "Good to see you, too." Diego hugged me at the side, sitting his head on mine. He has on sweatpants for a change, and a woman's medium-sized Death Note t-shirt. Juan Diego is known for wearing women's shirts because he's skinny as a fucking twig and doesn't gain any weight whatsoever. Actually, the Death Note t-shirt was the one I got for his birthday in November, and he didn't even realize it was a women's fit until he read the tag months later. Still, he had the best idea on dressing comfortably on a plane. I should know since I was wearing yoga pants and a Captain Eo t-shirt.

"Stayed in a hotel here?" I questioned.

"My aunt stayed with me. She wanted to make sure I was okay for two weeks," he responded.

"She's the best, isn't she?"

"Indeed." Diego fetched his ticket from his pocket. "All I wanted to ask is if we were on the same flight today."

"Yet you still make it sound like a B-rated horror movie scene."

The boy evilly snickered. "You know me too well."

I opened the United Airlines app on my phone. Ever since Mom showed me this, I've been using it to show my ticket to people. If it works, I use it. "I don't know about you, but I believe we have the same flight number."

" 'Tis indeed true. What's unfortunate is that our seats are far away from each other." For a person from Latin America, Diego has a stronger vocabulary than I do. I'm an English major, and sometimes, I don't think of using SAT words with friends. Diego makes it a contest to see who speaks more intelligently in the group.

"Yeah, but the flight is only two and a half hours long, Diego. Besides, you got reading to do."

"And writing."

"Well, let's go. I think the plane will board any second, and we haven't even got on the tram yet."

* * *

Our flight started to board at eleven-forty-three, and as Diego stated, he was more towards the back of the plane while I was seated at the left wing. However, I was sitting in the aisle seat; so was Diego. Sometimes, we would look at each other and smile just to see that we were doing alright. I have been on planes in the U.S. for years. Diego hadn't done that as often even though his family moved around a lot throughout his lifetime. He was born in Honduras, but he moved to Rhode Island when he was either eight or nine, and spent the rest of his life in Lebanon until he was a senior in high school, which was when he returned to his home country. His father was a member of the United Nations, so it made a lot of sense why the boy's life was like that. When Diego and I first met, I thought he was American because I didn't hear any other accent than the one I have heard my entire life. There was a bit of thickness, but it was slightly that when having a normal conversation, no one could hear it. Diego wasn't Luis because Luis had to learn the English language when he moved to the U.S. When Diego told me that he was from South America, it had to be a joke. I legitimately thought it was a joke. His two first languages were Spanish and English.

I entertained myself listening to music, writing my latest chapters or short stories, and eating the snackbox, which was my lunch. Every time I listen to my iPod on a plane, time seems to pass faster than a charging horse in empty fields. Before I knew it, the plane was descending into Austin, Texas.

When I got off, I was supposed to get my luggage, but I waited for Diego to get off first. As soon as he came out, we went to the baggage claim together.

"What did you end up doing on the plane?" he asked me.

"Listen to SHINee and suffer from writer's block," I groaned.

"That again? How many projects do you have?"

My reply was, "What did you do that was sort of productive?"

He scoffed. "For your information, I wrote three short stories and started a horror novel."

"Damn it."

"So, Kaitlyn, how many works do you have in progress again? Answer the question, I mean it."

I heavily sighed. "Not counting the fanfiction, eighty."

"It's a shame you know such a high number, Kaitlyn."

"I lack inspiration, alright. What kind of writer am I for lacking in ideas?"

He patted my head and said, "You're stuck is all."

"Managers don't like that. People don't get careers for being indecisive."

"They don't, but if I know you well, when you want to do something, you do it. That's the Kaitlyn I know and adore."

"Adore? Since when do you adore me?"

Diego scoffed once again. "That's a joke, right? Everyone adores you, Kaitlyn. I do because you're the most dedicated and hardworking person I have ever met. Who doesn't want to be you?"

The last thing I say before walking into the baggage claim area was, "Juan Diego, who wants to be me?"

Waiting for your bag when you were in coach the whole plane ride through is the worst. All of the first class fliers get their bags at the beginning of the round always. Seeing the same bags for a long time makes you sea sick, and you're not even at sea!

Diego and I sat against a fat column, boredly waiting for our bags to finally show up. I swear, waiting for bags was like waiting for the star of a concert to come out and perform. I'm staring at the latest email from Rooster Teeth on my phone. It was saying that someone was going to pick every intern up from the airport to take us to the hotel where we were going to be staying when we weren't working at the company. The fortunate thing about that was Rooster Teeth paid the fees for every intern. Thank god. The other part of the message was who was going to interview me tomorrow. Out of sheer and complete luck, I suppose, my interviewer is going to be Burnie Burns. Yes, I got the same person who I called about two weeks ago. I was terrified to meet this guy in person. What if I'm a disappointment in real life? I would not show my face at Rooster Teeth or Austin, Texas ever again.

"Who's your interviewer?" asked Diego.

"Burnie," I answered.

"Isn't he the guy you called to confirm your internship back at Rollins?"

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, Diego."

"He'll be your boss. Of course, it's a good thing. My interviewer is Gus. I'm scared of him."

I burst into laughter. "Why the hell are you scared? You're not scared of anything as far as I know."

"Luis said that Gus wasn't nice. I gave Joel a call two weeks ago, and I thought I was going to get him."

"Oh well. I guess they did it at random after all."

"Maybe."

"Don't use that word, Diego. That word means there's a lie somewhere in the phrase."

"Kaitlyn, "I suppose" doesn't sound natural if said all the time."

Before I could argue, "My bag!" I snatched it off the conveyor belt and sighed out of relief. "Finally!"

"Your entire summer is in that bag."

"Isn't yours like mine?"

Diego calmly went over to the claim and grabbed a larger, black suitcase off the belt. "Yes. Thank you for playing Captain Obvious in the skit of the same name."

"You're hilarious."

"Thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "That was fucking sarcasm."

"I know. I was playing along with you."

"Excuse me."

My friend and I both jerked our heads behind us to an guy with thin glasses, who reminded me of some Disney Channel actor who plays a nerd in a geek meets popular chick flick. "Can we help you?" Diego questioned. I wished he didn't ask that because I was afraid that the man was a Jehovah's witness or someone who involved stealing money from the naïve.

"I overheard you two talking about Rooster Teeth, so I came to ask if you were two of our new interns."

I replied, "You work for Rooster Teeth?"

He held his hand out to us. "I'm Kdin Jenzen."

"You mean the Kdin Jenzen who works with Achievement Hunter?" asked Diego, starry-eyed.

"Ah, you're a fan, I guess?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that." My emotionless friend was actually blushing. I never saw him do that before. Did Rooster Teeth have some magical powers or something? My Rollins brother was practically falling on his knees to one of the company's employees. "I'm Diego."

"As in Juan Diego?"

"Yeah, that's my first name."

"Oh, good. Just checking if I got the right person." Kdin shook his hand and turned to me. "And you must be…"

"Kaitlyn," I finished.

He took my hand and shook it once. "A pleasure to meet you both. The others are excited to meet you. If you don't mind, we are waiting for one more person to come. She was supposed to arrive before your flight landed, but I haven't seen her…"

"I'm sorry!" A girl shorter than I am pushed her way through the crowd and ran towards us with her suitcase rocking like a ship in a wild storm. She looked like she was fresh out of high school actually. I guess that internship contest was also all out of luck. "I'm so sorry," she said, gasping for breath. "My flight was delayed, and I almost lost my bag. Her face was coated in wetness. The front sides of her hair shone with sweat. However, she had a cute, pale face with wide, puppylike eyes. Every time I look at her, she reminds me of a much shorter version of Miranda.

"Take it easy, sweetie. You look like you're going to pass out." Kdin searched his bag and opened a new bottle of water. "Here, drink this." When she did, he asked, "You're Hoshina, aren't you?"

"Hoshina Eisuke, Mr. Jenzen. I am a big fan of yours. Coming Soon keeps me updated." What the hell is Coming Soon?

Kdin grabbed his cheek and chuckled. "Thanks. You're all too kind." The last time I checked, I didn't say anything.

My friend introduced, "I'm Diego, and this is Caitlin. We are glad to work with you this summer," to Hoshina.

The girl blushed. "Oh, thank you."

Kdin wiped his hands together and announced, "Well, that's everyone. I have my van parked in the lot, and I'll drive you three to your hotel. The other interns are waiting to finally meet you all."

* * *

** Austin is a beautiful city. When they say, "Everything is bigger in Texas," they mean it. I had a feeling that the skyscrapers in Austin were the same height as the ones in New York, but they just looked a lot taller to me. The lake in front of Austin shined like stars in the night sky. As Kdin drove us to the hotel, he informed us about the tourist attractions, which included the Barton Springs Pool, the Zilker Botanical Garden, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. I definitely felt like walking around just to get a feel for my summer home.  
**

"It's gorgeous here," I said with a sigh.

"You've never been to Texas?" Diego asked.

"Nope. I've only been to Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts in this country."

"That's still a lot of states," Hoshina joined in. "I live in California, but I was born in Japan."

"So you speak Japanese?"

"Uh, not as good. My mother and father moved to America when I was a baby."

"And never taught you?"

"No. Only English."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry," Diego said, "I'm from Honduras, but English was my first language, too."

Kdin steered the van down the streets until it stopped in front of the Hotel San José. It was different from every other hotel I've stayed in. This hotel reminds me of the apartments I had to live in when I was in Rome one summer. They were bungalow-styled according to some research I did of San José online before coming to Austin. I admit that the brush around the building was beautiful. I was just hoping that the rooms were big enough for all the interns.

"Thanks for driving us here, Kdin," Diego said as we were exiting the car.

"Don't thank me yet, guys. I still need to get you into the hotel rooms. I don't want the front desk manager to think you're all prostitutes trying to get rooms for work."

"How assuring," I muttered, grabbing my suitcase from the trunk.

"Just make sure you have your ID's out and with you. That's the one thing they'll be asking for when checking in."

I looked down at my carry-on and nodded.

When checking in, it seemed more than obvious that Hoshina and I were sharing a room in this hotel. I was sure that if I shared a room with Luis and Diego this summer, we wouldn't have any problems, but Rooster Teeth didn't know that we were all friends, so I gave them credit for staying safe. We were each given a room key, and we were not to give them out to anyone else.

"Rooster Teeth has provided you with two petite suites, one for each gender, and I hope you behave yourselves in here. We don't get you back in if you do something stupid. Girls get the room on the left; boys are on the right." Kdin led us past the stairs and to the left. Va va voom, our rooms were right there at the second left. Our guide handed each of us a white card. "This is my number. If you need anything, just ring me up, and I'll answer to anything you ask."

"Thanks, Kdin," said Diego, "We'll repay you with our hard work, I'm sure."

"Oh, you don't have to repay me at all. Coworkers help each other. Well, I'll see you all tomorrow at Rooster Teeth."

"Take care," we all announced together, waving farewell.

"Well, what an interesting day," I remarked with a sigh.

"Interesting?" questioned Hoshina.

"I mean nothing bad happened to us."

"Kaitlyn, you're going pessimistic on us again," Diego warned, rolling his eyes in the process.

The guys' suite door opened, and a recognizable head popped out from behind it. "Hola, shorty. Hola, Flebanese."

"Luis!" I dropped my stuff and jumped into his arms. "How's life?"

"Being here since yesterday has been good. Did you see some of the sights? The views are beautiful."

"Aren't they?"

Once Luis let me down to the floor, I introduced him to Hoshina and vice versa. Luis introduced me to his and Diego's new roommate. His name was Vishnal Bellanfant, and he was from Boston, Massachusetts, raised by British parents (god, his accent is so thick). He is the oldest out of all of us interns, being twenty-five years old, and he has been attending graduate school for the past three years now. His last year is the upcoming one, and he would complete his Engineering master's degree.

There's supposed to be six interns in total, six guys, six gals. However, there are three beds in Hoshina's and my room, but two have been claimed. "Where is she?"

Luis shrugged. "Turned out she doesn't want to live in a hotel room for the whole summer."

"I don't like the sound of her already," Diego said.

"Maybe she lives in the city and it's just convenient?" suggested Hoshina.

"I don't know, but what I mean is that this chick might be the spoiled bratty type out of all of us. Probably related to one of the Rooster Teeth members, and she slid her money under the table."

"It does sound like that," Vishnal remarked.

"Well, whatever." Luis waved his hand. "What matters is that we are working for a famous entertainment company."

Of course, that's what matters. I was still nervous just talking about it. Burnie was going to find something wrong with me in the interview. I knew it; I completely knew it. I wanted this day to be over, but at the same time, I didn't want to go to work tomorrow.


	5. May 16, 2016

Testing Journal,

As if things could have gone from bad to worse, it did. I set my phone alarm to seven last night, but I heard it going off at eight o'clock this morning. Hoshina was not in the room. I panicked and called Luis immediately. He didn't pick up (his phone was probably off), so I phoned Diego. If there is one thing I know about Diego, that is he is a girl when using his phone. He's constantly checking for messages, when someone calls him, he has to pick it up, and he would rather look down at the screen than look up and talk to the rest of us. As expected, he picked up, and he was wondering where the hell I was since I wasn't walking with him and Luis to work that morning. I hung up, dashed for the most business casual outfit I brought with me to Texas, put it on, grabbed my shit, and ran out of the hotel. I gave Kdin a text for the address to the building, so I could Google Map the rest of the way. Almost immediately, he replied with the address attached. He also insisted that he would pick me up and drive me to Rooster Teeth, but I refused because I was too proud for help and I was already in deep shit with time. I couldn't afford to wait for a ride this morning.

The business purse Mom sent me was very useful, but I had my portfolio in my hands, which was a very big mistake. I was good with multitasking back at home, but I was the worst at it under pressure. With my folder in my left hand, and my cell phone in my right, it was a recipe for disaster, especially when I was running past people who were going to work as well. While dashing across the block, I bumped straight into another person from behind. I dropped everything and fell back into the street.

"Hey, watch it!" he snapped as he turned. His brown eyes were colder than Luis's whenever he got mad, and he had glasses on just like my two friends to make it even scarier. "The world doesn't revolve around you. Everyone's goin' somewhere."

"I'm so sorry," I stammered, "It it was an an accident."

During this, I was completely unaware that the lights changed, and a garbage truck was heading straight at me with an oblivious driver at the wheel. "Watch out!" the pedestrian screamed, pulling me onto the curb.

I also squealed as I watched the truck come to a startling halt after the garbage man finally saw me stand up. My nails were digging into my savior's skin as the driver flipped us off. As I was fetching my phone from the ground, the man said, "You have to be more careful. Cities have the worst drivers."

"I'm sorry." I wanted to cry, but I didn't to save me from embarrassment.

"What's the rushing for? Why are you running?"

"'Cause it gets me to places a lot faster, especially for a short woman." What that said, I continued my journey to Rooster Teeth without saying, "Thank you," and looking back at the street I almost died on today.

* * *

I made it to the building just in the nick of time, thank goodness for that. By the time it was eight fifty-nine, I was running out of breath and about to pass out. I wish I were Br'er Rabbit because he was always with energy, and I had barely to spare. The moment I pushed the doors open, every intern I recognized turned their heads.

"What the hell happened to you?" exclaimed Diego and Luis, who were dressed in plaid shirts and very dark jeans. Vishnal seemed to be overdressed in a suit, and Hoshina was wearing a cute lace dress that I could really imagine Miranda wearing back at home. Okay, I seriously think that Miranda and Hoshina are either distant cousins or long lost sisters.

"What the hell happened to me?" I snapped, "Well, I woke up an hour late without a phone call or a shake, I ran into someone, and I almost got hit by a garbage truck! I feel like killing the both of you in this lobby; that's how pissed I am!"

"We sorry, Kaitlyn!" panicked Luis, putting his hands up as if he were getting arrested. "We assumed you were already awake until we got here."

"Tell me the truth before I rip every button off your shirt."

"They're coming," warned Hoshina, hushing every one of us to complete silence.

Luis sat me down in the chair next to him and helped me clean some of the dirt from my dress and fix my hair back to how I straightened it this morning.

"Thanks," I muttered.

"Did you eat this morning?" he asked quietly.

"No. I had to run here, moron."

Diego hushed us again the moment we saw five gentlemen enter the room. It was clear to me that these men were older than thirty but younger than fifty. I admit that they were more business than I expected them to be as far as dress was concerned. When they said business casual, they meant it. They had to be the founders of the company who we were talking to for weeks.

The founder in the middle cleared his throat and began. "Good morning, everyone." The moment he spoke, I recognized his voice. That was Burnie Burns, the one who had very much interest in me specifically.

"Good morning," us interns repeated.

"Welcome to Rooster Teeth. Before I get to the important stuff, I want all of you to look around. Don't move. Just look around. How many chairs are in your row right now?"

Was that a rhetorical question? I was afraid to answer that myself.

"Six," Vishnal said.

"Good. Thank you. I know you're all nervous. My best advice is don't be. Second question: how many seats are empty?"

As far as I was concerned, everyone was sitting next to another person. Vishnal was next to Hoshina. Hoshina was on Diego's left. Luis was on my right, and…no one was on my left. "One," I answered softly.

Burnie shook his head. "I wasn't hoping to hear that. In this company, for this week, these six chairs are meant to have someone's butt in each of them. We take punctuality very seriously here at Rooster Teeth."

The door clicked open.

"And speaking of the devil."

That was the moment when we met the last piece to the intern puzzle. When Diego said that she was the spoiled type, he became our psychic. She was of Luis's height when she wore her pumps. Her curly, brown hair reached to her chest, covering her goods. Speaking of that, they were a letter size bigger than my own, which did make me feel inferior. Her lips were coated in too much lipstick. Though she was appropriately dressed, she looked like a clown. Big eyes, fat lips, and men's dreams did and do not mix with business casual. "Hi, everyone!" the last intern cheerfully said, "Hi, Uncle Burnie! It's a beautiful day in Austin, isn't it?

Burnie's eyes darkened at the sight of her. "Tara Burns, you're late."

The intern supposively named Tara scoffed. The only real information I have of her today is that she's apparently Burnie's very spoiled niece. By the way she showed up late to her first day of working at Rooster Teeth, she had to be in high school or something. If she was eighteen or younger, I would be shocked. I thought the rules were graduated high school students and upward for the contest. "Get a grip, Uncle Burnie. It's only two minutes."

"A lot could've happened in two minutes. Time is money. Tara, just because your father is my older brother doesn't mean I'm going to put you in first place in this company. Plus, I'm not your uncle in Rooster Teeth, understand?"

Her face went completely sour. "Get a…"

"Sit down. Let this be a lesson to every one of you. True, we have a first name basis here, but we also run on a three-strike basis with tardiness. You get a warning the first time. The second time will lead you in one of our offices, but it might as well be mine. Third time, prepare to see a pink slip on your desk. We didn't hire slackers." Of course, Burnie didn't, but why was his niece in the middle of all this in the first place? That was my only question, but I didn't think asking it now was appropriate. "With that said, I'm going to let Matt explain some Rooster Teeth history. Matt?"

The man with the younger-looking face at the left end of the line stepped forward. "Thank you, Burnie. With pleasure." While cracking his knuckles, he began. "Our career started in college when Burnie, Joel, and I helped create a little mobster film called _The Schedule_. You probably never heard of it because you were too young to watch it, which is fine. In Los Angeles, we met Geoff and Gustavo, those two idiots at the end of the row for those who don't know."

"Gee, thanks, Matt," muttered Gus with laughter, the one with the thick, black glasses and a Latino face, which was very similar to Luis's in a sense.

Geoff smirked, and he was the one with the French mustache and tattoos on his arms, which I could still see from the wrists up.

"Anyway, we all knew we wanted more out of life instead of being trapped in a city with limits. We all had a meeting and asked one question. And that question? What do you love more than anything else in the world? We came up with a few things. Movies for one of them."

"Fun with friends," said the other young man out of the five, which we came to find out from process of elimination that man was Joel.

Burnie added, "Science."

Geoff state, "Video games."

"And animation design," Gus finished.

Burnie clapped his hands together. "We knew none of those things together weren't in any other production company, and that was how Rooster Teeth was born. We're thirteen years strong with over ninety employees working, including you six. You might've seen us in videos posted on Youtube. We may seem as if business is no big deal to us, but Rooster Teeth is all about the business. There was never a day we never got work done, so if you're here to just fool around-" He pointed to the entrance. "-there's the door. Got it?"

We all nodded, scared to silence.

"Oh, look at the time. We need to get you all to your interviews. We just want to see where you would belong in the company, and depending on what you have in store for us, you might get the position you want. I know there are six of you and five of us. We all want you to get onto the tour as quickly as possible, so we added Jack to our list just for today. Tara, he's the one you'll be talking to."

"Jack?" she whined, "Why can't I just hang out in your office?"

"Because we're not friends, Tara. Now, go."

"But I'm sure someone would want to trade." She leaned over me, giving me some sort of claustrophobia, just to charm my best friend. "How about you, handsome? care to do little, old me a favor?"

"Uh, I've been sober from the "little, old me"s for four years now, and I want it to stay that way, thanks," Luis countered.

Diego and I burst out into laughing. If I know any better, Luis was definitely smart enough to keep away from the Kardashian type of girls since they only give nothing but trouble. If Luis refused her, he's definitely clean in the mind, to Tara's dismay.

"Nice joke, but unfortunately, Tara, he's not the one I'm interviewing either," said Burnie. "If you want to be fired on your first day, try that trade offer again."

Groaning, Tara got her Chanel purse and strutted down the hall with the other founders smirking behind her.

"Excuse my niece," he moaned, "We were originally going to have five new interns when I forced to do a certain someone a certain favor. Anyway, we are going to have Vishnal with Joel this morning. Joel, if you please."

Vishnal stood up from his chair, fixing his collar first, and followed Joel down the hall until we heard doors open and close.

"Gustavo, you're going to take Juan Diego into your office. Geoff, you'll be escorting Hoshina. Matt, you're taking Luis."

As soon as the others left, I was stuck with…oh shit. Now, I remembered.

"Well, Kaitlyn, we finally meet at last."

I stood up from the chair and nodded. "It seems so, Mr. Burns…I mean, Burnie."

He chuckled. "You are so polite. Stop that. It's going to hurt you at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Well, excuse me for being nervous."

"Well, why don't you come into my office? There's a lot of questions I have for you."

"A lot of questions?"

"If you give me one-word answers that is."

"If there's one thing you should know about me, Burnie, it's that I'm a major storyteller. Whatever question you have, I have a story to go along with it. Why else am I an English major? Well, I'm one when I graduate college that is."

"Then, if what you say is true, I'll ask less questions. Have a seat in front of my desk."

There were four chairs in Burnie's office in total. The biggest one is behind the desk. The one in front of it seemed comfortable when I sat down in it. I was probably going to do a lot of sitting today. I bet there were more chairs in this building than people.

"So, Kaitlyn, do you know why we chose you to be a part of Rooster Teeth?" Burnie questioned.

"Okay, I don't have a story for that one, but I assume it has something to do with what you found in my resumé."

"Of course. Of course, it's something in your resumé. We wouldn't have picked you if you didn't include that. Maybe I'll let you go through your copy in order to figure out the real reason why."

"Well, wouldn't that take forever?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Alright then." I opened my purse and expected my portfolio to be sitting there, waiting to be picked up and opened like a good portfolio should. The only things I saw in there were my phone, wallet, and two packages of gum. "Oh no," I muttered.

"Something wrong?"

"Uh." I was too horror stricken to speak. My portfolio was with me, I swore to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. I had it even when…Shit! I lost it after I almost died! "Burnie, I have to be honest with you. I thought I was going to be late to work today…" I could feel the blood rushing to my face. "...and I was running here with the resumé in my…"

There was a knock at the half-open door. "Burnie, I hate to interrupt this interview, but I found something that looks important while walking to work."

"No apologies needed, Ray. Let me get a look at it."

I really wanted to move, but I didn't have to do that. The employee called Ray handed the folder to my boss. "I'm sure it belongs to one of the in…" The room filled with silence when I finally got a look at his face. The brown eyes…the glasses that covered them… "I finally found you."

"You two have met before?"

"Yeah. Almost got hit by a truck this morning."

That was the moment I wanted to vanish from the office.

Burnie opened my lost portfolio and grinned. "Well, thank you for interrupting us, Ray. Let this be a lesson learned, Kaitlyn. Relax, or else you'll lose everything until it's your head."

Funny. I was expecting him to say, "Hold onto your shit next time," but this was much more assuring.

"I'll be in the AH room if you need me," Ray said, heading towards the door. "Oh, and Kaitlyn, it's nice to see you again."

"See you later, Ray."

I kept staring until I lost sight of my savior, who apparently I was going to be working with for the rest of the summer. He worked here? Was it just my luck or was it just a dream? Maybe if I pinched myself, I would wake up at seven in the morning as originally planned. "He saved my behind."

"That's Ray Narvaez, Jr. for ya. He's one of the younger full timers at Rooster Teeth. Very talented gamer and loses rarely."

"Ray Narvaez?"

"Sound familiar?"

Yeah, he did. Luis had mentioned the name a couple of times back in Florida during our conversations. All I knew about him back at Rollins was that Narvaez was almost impossible to beat at video games. Lui wanted to convince me that he was the biggest Pokémon fan in existence, but I had doubts. You had to be really crazy to be an expert at Pokémon. I guess I was officially insane. "Not at all," I lied. "Just what does "AH" stand for?"

"Achievement Hunter. It's our video game website for those who are looking for achievements to unlock. Like I said, Ray's really good at it."

"Oh."

"Well, after the scare is over-" Burnie pushed the portfolio in front of me. "I'll skip the questions. I want to know why you set up your resumé the way it is you have it."

"Well, it's mostly writing, choir, and theatre based. I'm an artist, a performer. I've been doing these things since I could talk. Started voice lessons at ten, storytelling at…god knows when, songwriting at eight, theatre work at ten as well. I wish there was something more interesting to say about that."

The pen just started to tap on the desk. "Did you have any leads, solos, achievements? I only ask because it says that in twelfth grade, you got third place in a writing contest at school."

"Oh, I did at points in my life. When I was in fifth grade, I had a solo for the song Tomorrow from _Annie_ in my chorus. Seventh grade, I had a small solo for another song, which I can't remember the name of, and it upsets me because that was my favorite song out of all songs in my school choir career. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck in acting and writing. I was about to publish a book until something happened, and I was always background characters in my theatre productions."

"Well, it looks to me in college so far, you were backstage crew."

"Because I was whenever I wasn't acting in background or I didn't get into anything in general. To be frank, Burnie, I like space to grow and stretch my talents. I just want to be heard, I suppose, if that's what you want me to say to you."

For the entire time, Burnie was jotting down my speech into his own personal notes. "I'm sure everyone wants to be heard, Kaitlyn. However, I think what you're saying is more than that. Just because you're in third place in a contest or backstage of a production doesn't mean that you're not shining in the slightest."

"Burnie, I want to be heard, recognized as a somebody. I just want to be appreciated for what I can give even if it's a little bit of work because of what I'm limited to."

My interviewer stopped writing and clicked the pen to save ink. "Kaitlyn, I can promise you that Rooster Teeth has little to no limits."

"Just give me anything, sir. I just want to be important in some way or another."

There was a five-second pause in between us. He cleared his throat and said, "Okay, I have something else to ask you. It's only one more question." He crossed his fingers and sat his chin on his hands. "What is your biggest dream?"

I had a feeling that it was a test of some sort, and an interview was all about honesty. "I want to share a story. I don't care if it's through a book, movie, play, or whatever guys are planning to do, but I want everyone to read or see it and say, "That girl is a genius!" Didn't you ever want that feeling? 'Cause I've wanted it all my life."

I could tell that Burnie wanted to touch the pen, but something stopped him from doing so. "The truth comes out, doesn't it?"

My throat just ran dry.

"Kaitlyn. Congratulations. You just passed the test."

"Test? This was a test?"

"Yup. I just wanted to see if you only applied and made this stuff up to get into Rooster Teeth because…it's Rooster Teeth. Nope. People who come here want something. Mostly, it's a step closer to earning his or her chance to fulfill that childhood dream. Ask anybody the same question I asked and listen to his or her story. It'll be worthwhile."

Oh, I was sure everyone had a dream. Well, everyone except Tara. She only wanted her uncle's money. "I'll remember that. I will."

"I know you will. Well, why are you still here? Jack is waiting for you outside."

I collected my portfolio and made sure to put it where it was safe in my bag that time. "Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me yet, Kaitlyn."

"When should I?"

"Don't worry about it. You'll know when it's time."

"Full of riddles, aren't you, Burnie?"

"Kaitlyn." He leaned against the desk until his whole upper body was on it. "I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly this summer."

* * *

I met up with Luis, Diego, Hoshina, Vishnal, and our tour guide, Jack, who was dressed with a long beard on his face, after being the last person to exit her interview. Actually, Tara was nowhere to be in sight. Wasn't she supposed to be with Jack, the person she was complaining about? "Am I last?" I asked.

"Seems so," Jack answered, shrugging. "Tara won't be joining us on the tour today."

"Because she said she "knows the place already,"" mocked Diego, pointing quotations marks into the air and sticking his tongue out.

Our guide cleared his throat loudly. "Anyway, with everyone here, I'm going to show you all the spaces each of you may or may not be working in. As an employee, it's still best to know where everyone and everything is. You may be working anywhere in this building depending on what your skills are. I'm only giving you all ideas of what each department does in this company. On we go."

When I thought I, no we, were going to suffer through about a half an hour of the spoiled girl's ramblings, it turned out Tara just didn't believe in teamwork. Oh well, so much for that.

Rooster Teeth as a huge building. I knew beforehand while I was running here, but when inside the place, it's giant. There's a warehouse for filming behind the main office building. We only saw the green room from the doorway since we weren't allowed inside. There are a few editing rooms, where the shows, videos, and documents get fixer upper magic done. The tech room is where the backstage people prepare for the Rooster Teeth podcasts, which is filmed in the room with posters, chairs, a coffee table, and a long couch. The moment Luis saw this room, it was if his heart stopped beating. I had to pull him away to continue the tour.

After getting a gander at the breakrooms, and I finally get something to eat, Jack took all five of us to the last section of our tour, which he called the grand attraction. We didn't even open the door, but Luis, Diego, Vishnal, and Hoshina were reacting to the green and black star with a game controller sign hanging from it. "This is not my office, but I do control things in here. Ladies, gents…" Our guide pushed the handle down and the door forward. "Welcome to Achievement Hunter."

"Hey, Jack!" two guys in the big office space greet. The two of them were geared up with headphones around their necks and computers and trinkets at their desks. Though the room is big, it's also cluttered. It makes me wonder when the last time it was cleaned was at.

"Hey, guys. Just giving the interns a tour. The curly one here is Michael Jones from Rage Quit." Michael wasn't tall, but he wasn't short either. I'm four eleven, so I know the difference. His hair is a shade of brown that changes with the seasons. I can imagine it getting darker in the winter. Plus, it's curly as Carrot Top's.

"Don't worry 'bout 'im," the other one, whose accent is just a tad thicker than Vishnal's, said. He did strike me as taller with some facial hair, Diego's torso shape, and chicken legs. "He's even worse off camera."

Michael removed his glasses and shot a nasty glare at his cohort. "Shut up, Gavin, that's a lie, and you know it." Wait, was that a Jersey accent I just heard?

"And that's Gavin Free," Jack remarked, gesturing over to the Brit.

"He's free in everything except his own stupidity," Michael said, smirking.

Gavin pushed his chair, rolled to where Michael was, and kicked the back of his chair. It rolled forward until Carrot Top jumped out and stopped the chair himself.

"You dick!"

"Guys! Behave!" Jack mandated. He looked at all of us, shaking his head. "Sorry, interns. Two of our employees forgot that today was professionalism day."

"Sorry," the other two muttered.

Luis and Diego couldn't chuckle. They were still laughing after Gavin moved from his original spot since they were aware of his antics before I even knew about it.

"Do any of you guys know where Ray went?" Jack questioned, gazing around the space.

So that was the AH office. Ray worked in that office. That was all I got from the tour in all honesty. I have no idea why Ray was the only person I was interested in except for finally getting the chance to thank him for saving my ass twice. Well, I'm working here for the rest of the summer. It seems I have plenty of time to do that, but the sooner the better.

"Said something about getting coffee in the breakroom or something," replied Michael.

"Well, I thought it would be nice for him to…"

"I'm back! Sorry, Jack." Ray squeezed through us as he reentered the office with a tall, white cup in his left hand. "It's hot. Very hot. Hi. I'm Ray Narvaez, Jr., and this is Achievement Hunter, but I think you know that already."

"You see," stated Gavin, "Ray is a video gaming genius, but he sucks at punctuality and arrivals."

"Hey, if achievements are gonna be hunted, Ray's gotta be awake." Two loud gulps of coffee slid down his throat.

"Then, do your job before I get Geoff in here. Actually, I'm more mad because Ryan is coming late to work, and I have yet to be informed of the reason why."

"Who's Ryan?" I asked.

"The Mad King is nigh!" That response was so loud and quick, I screamed and jumped into Luis's arms. He and everyone else just laughed. The new face in the area had sandy brown hair and looked about the same age as Jack, maybe a little younger, but he was way older than Ray, Michael, and Gavin. I forced myself out of the grip after he refused to stop making fun of me.

"Sorry, girly," the stranger said, straightening himself and cracking his knuckles. "If I gave you a heart attack, that wasn't my intention."

"Ryan Haywood, I hope you gave a perfectly good excuse to Burnie and Gus," Jack remarked, raising his thick eyebrows.

"First of all, since when are you my mother? Second of all, there was a very bad accident, and there was worse traffic. They understand because they knew about it."

"Well then. Now that the majority of the cast is here, I will have to leave you interns for the moment. You're free to walk around and ask questions to the staff. At twelve, we meet for lunch in the breakroom. Don't forget it. Well, have fun, kids." With that, Jack left us all with the Achievement Hunter members."

There was a moment of silence between all of us until Ryan broke it. "Howdy, new kids," he said, "All of you are lucky to be in this building. Not everybody walks through the RT halls."

"Yeah." Michael reorganized his chair with the desk and sat down. "Geoff just looks for the best people for Achievement Hunter alone."

Luis's voice cracked as he tried to speak. "Um, I actually have a few questions if you don't mind."

"Come right in," Gavin invited. "We'll answer anything."

"Gavin, you're giving him too much free space. We'll answer anything related to Achievement Hunter is what he means," Michael countered.

"Michael, what did you think he was going to ask?" Ray chimed in.

Hoshina went searching for a person called Jordan (everyone else knew who he was but me). Diego and Vishnal left to get something to drink in the breakroom. I was left to figure out what to do with myself until lunch. Well, Ray was finally at my reach, but he looked busy setting up his computer. I had an idea on how to talk to him though.

As Luis was flattering the others, I slipped by to get a real look at the AH office. It was a wide, rectangular space with white walls stocked with shelves, electronics, framed posters, and maps. In the collection, a stuffed, blue and white Snorlax sat on a lonely shelf between Ray's and another desk. I approached and said, "Excuse me, but who does this little guy belong to?" The whole room just went silent, and all eyes were on me. Oh shit, I thought, I pushed a button I should never have touched.

"Snorlax is mine." As soon as I heard Ray's voice, I eased.

"You're a Pokémon fan?" I asked.

"Played it since childhood."

"Me, too."

"Really?" Ray's eyes got browner than before. "You don't strike me as a Pokémon fan."

I don't strike him as what? "I beg your pardon?"

Gavin chuckled. "You know this girl, Luis? She's cute like a younger version of Lindsay except she never had blonde hair."

Luis wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "This is Kaitlyn. We go to Rollins together."

"Oh yeah. The two-thirds of the Florida trio.. Burnie and Geoff said very good things about you all."

"Thanks," I replied, "but who's Lindsay?"

Michael responds, "My wife. She's in the Control Room today, but she comes here usually for achievements and let's plays."

"She has a character in Minecraft, true?" added Luis.

"That, too."

A guy like him was married? I had no idea. Well, I wasn't going to judge because before the 70's, a girl like me was supposed to be married at this point in time. Plus, I don't have a boyfriend. Again, why judge?

"Want me to show you my favorite piece of art?" Ray asked straight into my ear.

Gasping, I nodded.

He went into the top side drawer and pulled out something gray and chucky. If I knew any better, which I did, it had to be a Nintendo 64 game chip. Just stick it into the system's top, and you're ready to play. My eyes were set aglow when Ray revealed the title.

"Pokémon Stadium? The original of all things good in life?" I squeaked.

"Oh, I love the act, so I have a little challenge for you. Beat me in a battle without questioning me, and I'll believe you and your little fangirlingness."

"You want me to beat you in a Pokémon Stadium battle? Why do you think I would lie about my fandoms? I know what I like and don't like."

"Ray, she's not lying," Luis said, trying to defend me for once.

"Let it go, kid," Ryan interrupted, shaking his head. "The moment Ray wants to duel, there's no stoppin' him."

Ray waved the game in his fingers. "What's the matter? Scared?"

I cracked my left hand and said, "I'm not scared of an adult who plays video games for a living."

"Kaitlyn, don't be stupid," Luis plead.

"Give me a controller and let us record this for the future to see. I, Kaitlyn Cherniak, accept your challenge."

Ray pursed his lips as he slid the game into the console. "That confident, huh? Well, the deal is sealed. Guys, get the cameras."

As he set up the computer and the others ran around to find equipment, Luis yanked me out of the room and slapped the back of my head. "What are you thinking? Ray is a gaming genius."

"I know, Luis. I've been told a million times already."

"And you accepted a Pokémon battle? Have you a death wish?"

"You mean of embarrassment? No, but he doesn't know that I was born to play. Began with Pokémon Ruby and present with Pokémon Wii U, I know how to face this guy."

"He'll kill your overconfidence within seconds."

I scoffed. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a Tumblr reputation to save."

"Kaitlyn!" His voice faded as I closed the door halfway on him.

Ray stood in between two chairs. He gestured the one on the right for me, and I sat in it and let him push me closer to the desk. The challenger fell into the first chair ass first, and Gavin had the camera ready. "Prepare to lose." Ray smirked.

I raised my eyebrows and replied, "Prepare to be wrong."

"Oh shit," Michael said. "This just got serious!"

Ryan announced, "Hello, this is a special episode from Achievement Hunter. The interns are in today, and Ray has just challenged one of them to a Pokémon battle. Who will get their ass beat first? Who's going to be saved from embarrassment? Let's find out."

If Ryan and Michael, including Gavin maybe, thought I was going to lose, boy, were they in for a surprise. I've been watching the show since I was five, and I've been playing since I was seven. Those were the best fifteen years of my life. No stay-at-home nerd was going to ruin that for me.

"Alright, I'm Player 1, you're 2. You choose your three Pokémon by pressing the button or control stick commands," Ray explained.

"I've seen this done before. I know what I'm doing."

"Seen? You never played?"

"Never got a 64 because Mom wouldn't let me have one."

"Mom? How old are you, college kid?"

"Twenty, thank you very much," I responded sarcastically.

He scoffed then. "So this game is so out of your time."

"Really? How old are you, wise one?

"Twenty-six."

"What's your major then?"

Ray's face whitened. His friends were dead silent because I assumed they were not going to crack jokes about what he was going to respond with. "Uh…What an interesting question."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well? You were saying?"

The challenger kept glaring at Michael, who had his cheeks puffed like a hamster's full of food. "Oh, I…dropped out of college after a year."

My lips parted. "You quit school, and you're twenty-six years old?"

"Is that a problem?"

"You sound like it is. I'm only putting pieces of the puzzle together."

"Continuing. Let's pick our Pokémon already."

That battle was going to be tough if I didn't know what I was getting myself into. Ray's six-member team contained the three Kanto starters, Charmander (fire type), Bulbasaur (grass and poison type), Squirtle (water type), Pikachu (electric type), Jigglypuff (normal type), and Cubone (who I assumed was a rock type until I learned it was a ground type the hardest way possible). My team consisted of Geodude (a rock and ground type), Meowth (another normal type), Machop (fighting type), Pidgey (flying type), Vulpix (fire type), and Psyduck (water type). Okay, as far as random went, rock and ground moves can smash Charmander and Pikachu to pieces, so Geodude was obviously on the team. I also put him on because I thought he could beat Cubone, too. Meowth is like Jigglypuff, useless. Machop could beat Cubone to my belief, but I was mostly going to use it for Jigglypuff if anything else. However, fighting type moves don't work with poison type Pokémon, so Bulbasaur would be my only downfall. I had to take the risk. Vulpix could beat Bulbasaur, but Squirtle and Cubone were going to kill it for sure. Psyduck could do damage to both Charmander and Cubone, and I believe there a Psychic move that could do well in the mix of things. Overall, my team choices were Geodude, Machop, and Psyduck.

"That was quick," Michael announced.

Ryan said," Ray's still picking."

Ray only had chosen one by the time I was finished. A few seconds after, both of us were ready to fight to the death. "I hope you're ready 'cause once you pick, you can't go back."

"I was born ready," was my reply, gripping the Nintendo 64 controller in my hands.

"Then, let's have at it," he stated, quoting Captain Hook from Peter Pan.

The computer zoomed into the battle stadium with no trainers in sight. It was pretty cheap as far as animation went, but I did remember that we were playing on the Nintendo 64, a damn old system. I was surprised that it still worked without glitching. The first two Pokémon to enter the stadium were Geodude on my side and Pikachu for Ray (the obvious choice).

"Pikachu and Geodude?" said Ray, "What a lucky match."

"You can still believe me," I rebuttled.

"Well, choosing types is one thing. Using them is another."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," I replied, pushing the control stick to activate Earthquake. That move is only good in single battles. Double battles could possibly kill your partner with this move.

It was obvious Pikachu was faster, so it began the fight with an Attack power up.

"Should never have done that," I warned as we watched Geodude make the ground explode and Pikachu faint.

"Oh shit!" Gavin stouted, "One hit kill!"

Ray scoffed. "Well played, princess, but we have two more to go."

"I have two more to go. You have yet to…"

The next Pokémon on Ray's side released was Cubone, the least expected choice; however, it's one fighting move, if it had it, before I figured it out, would kill me.

"You put a Cubone and a Geodude together?" Michael asked.

"Of course," Ray answered proudly. "The worst part, you can't switch in this battle."

"Don't have to," I said. I pushed the control stick towards Earthquake again. The health of Cubone was only cut in half, and there was no message box showing the damage status. "What? Ground is supposed to kill Rock types."

"You're right."

"Cubone used Bonemerang!" Cubone whacked Geodude, and the stupid, floating rock with arms flat out died.

"It does."

I screamed at the sight.

"Cubone is a ground type, dummy."

Shit, I completely forgot. There are millions of Pokémon out there as far as today's generation is concerned, and I don't remember every single one. This means Machop was not going to take it down easily. Good thing I kept my third choice then. I had to think fast.

"Psyduck of all Pokémon?" questioned Ray. "Well, we can't get what we want, can we?"

"Prepare to suffer!" Bubble Beam was my only savior to finally put Cubone in its place.

"Nice comeback from Kaitlyn," Ryan announced.

The more talking there was behind me, the more frustrated I was becoming. I just wanted this fight to be over after I spotted a crowd at the door, Jesus Christ. Luis and Diego were in front with Hoshina in between. Other employees I didn't recognize and Vishnal stood behind and couldn't fathom what was happening.

"Just as I had planned it. Well, I didn't think you would flop on the whole Cubone versus Geodude thing, but this makes my job a lot easier," mocked Ray.

"It's not over until I say it's over," I hissed.

Ray replied, "I beg to differ," just at the moment Bulbasaur came out to fight.

"Oh god!"

"Gotcha."

Bulbasaur was exactly who I was afraid of. It's the only starter Pokémon to have two types, grass and poison, a double killer.

"You can do this, Kaitlyn." Luis's voice broke through the silence I attempted to create in my mind. "I know you. You're the Pokémon Master here. Only cowards take the easy way out."

"I'm waiting." Ray just interrupted my thoughts with the Jaleel White Sonic voice, goddamnit. Now, it was going to bother me for the rest of the day.

I muttered. "Easy way out. Only cowards…That's it!"

My sudden shout made everyone jump. "What's up with you?" Ray said, regathering his heart pace.

"It's like you said, Ray," I responded, "Choosing types is one thing. How to use them is another." I jerk the control stick to the right.

Bulbasaur attacked first with Razor Leaf, and that got Psyduck to three quarters of its health. Luckily, I still got a chance for my water type to use Confusion on the monster with a flower bud on its back. It slice the health in half. Green to yellow it went for the both of us. I uselessly tapped the control stick downward to activate Fury Swipes, knowing it would be dead before it could even use it.

"Things don't look good for you, Ray. A few more hits, and you're a goner," I mocked.

When Machop appeared on the screen, Ray just sat there and laughed. "It doesn't look good for you either. Fighting doesn't affect poison types that much." Machop went for a Low Kick and Bulbasaur used Poison Powder to poison my Pokémon. "You look pretty calm for a person with a poisoned Machop."

"Oh, believe me. I am because this battle is going to out with…" Machop put Bulbasaur into some mental hold, and the grass and poison type went flying in the air for the Seismic Toss.

"What?" Ray screamed as he watched his last Pokémon faint and vanish.

"A bang," I finished, placing the controller on the desk. "Player 2 is the victor. The screen says it." I fetched my bag and started for the door. "Oh, if there's one absolute thing you should know about me, Ray, it's this: if someone ever tells me that I'm not what I say I am, I go the greatest lengths to prove you wrong even if it means embarrassing you in front of your friends." I glared into my coworkers' eyes. "Luis, Diego, Hoshina, Vishnal, let's go." The moment I began walking again, a path was cleared.

"Kaitlyn, you had some nerve," Diego said when we were out of the Achievement Hunter office's hearing range.

"That had to be the most epic battle I have ever seen in my life," Vishnal commented.

"He challenged me. I pursued," I replied, imitating Frollo from the Disney version of Hunchback.

"Well, you didn't have to be mean about it," Hoshina countered. What she has more than Miranda is attitude because damn, she growled at me.

"Does it matter? I won."

"Which is a major feat," Luis said, "No Rooster Teeth outsider beats Ray Narvaez at any video game. You put him in quite a shock."

"That was the plan. Did you hear what he said before that? Well, it turns out girls can play Pokémon, too."

"All he said was that you didn't look like a Pokémon fan to him. You're twisting his words around."

"Luis, I'm wearing a dress and pump heels. I think I know what he meant by that. Everyone in this building knows about what happened to me this morning, so of course, I don't look like I play anything appealing!"

"What happened this morning?" Hoshina questioned.

I took them all to the breakroom as a private space for my story. I explained how I first met Ray by crashing into him and almost getting hit by a garbage truck in the process, not forgetting to mention how he saved me before my head was mush. "It so turned out basically I'm a damsel in distress now." Let me tell you now that I hate the term. I hate being the girl who's always in trouble. I want to do the saving for a change. Most of all, I don't want people to think I don't know shit about writing and video games because those have been my talents my whole life long. Clear?


	6. May 17, 2016

Last night I got a message from Burnie and the other founders at Rooster Teeth. It contained the weirdest question I ever had to answer to anyone. "_What are your favorite games? List them. It could be _anything _you have played_." Well, I've played a lot of things: video games, board games, puzzles, computer games, and more. Hell, I even learned how to install programs on the computer when I was three. However, I'm not a genius in everything. I forgot how to play chess because Mom taught my sister and me only once. First person shooters drive me to anxiety. My best games are RPGs, word searches, some crosswords, Pokémon, Mario Party series, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario, and depending who I'm fighting against, racing and battle arena games.

Sudoku is my favorite. Whenever I'm sitting alone in the quiet, I just pull out the puzzle book and solve them. I even do the puzzles in the newspapers. As I was walking to work today, I found something interesting in the street. Sitting on the curb, open and flapping, was a sudoku puzzle book. I wiped the debris off of it and skimmed through the some written pages. The puzzles written on were left incomplete. Checking the front, I came to see that the levels of the book were from medium to hard. I assumed that the original owner just gave up on them because they were too hard for them to figure out. Well, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I kept it. I needed some entertainment.

When I arrived and met up with the others at Rooster Teeth, we were brought into one of the green rooms. There were six computers sitting in a row a few feet in front of a green screen. When Burnie told us to each take a seat, we did. I was lucky to get a seat in between my two best friends, but Luis was unfortunate to have Tara sitting right on his left hand side.

"Looks like you got the best view, pretty boy," Tara said to him, flexing her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I got the best view of my best friend here," Luis replied, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

Diego tried to hold it in by snickering, but a huge burst of laughter came out instead. "Oh my god, Luis, you have the best comebacks ever."

Patting me on the head, he remarked, "I try only when it matters." His smile just makes me smile along with him.

Tara scoffed. "One day, he's going to recognize beauty when he finally opens his eyes."

"I'll try to find the beauty in you once you peel away the ugly mask off your face."

"I pay a hundred a week for facials, pretty boy," she growled.

"My name is Luis, not pretty boy!"

"Hot potato is more like you because your temper and weight."

"That is enough!" Burnie snapped, "I want all of you to face your computers and not to speak with _anybody_. The last thing I want is broken computers. Tech costs money." He looks at the floor, clearing his throat. The more Burnie yelled at Tara and whoever she was arguing with, the more he started to lose his voice. I could tell that he wasn't the youngest person alive, so I wanted to stay quiet in order to keep the peace. "Alright. I bet you are all wondering about two things, one of them being why you had to answer that email I sent you all last night and the other being why you are in the this room staring at computer screens. Well, I can tell you why. A little bird told me that we have some talent in the world of gaming, so I want to see who we have in store for us. I want you to turn on your computers now and see what game you are going to be playing for us. Based on your answers, we gave you a game to test the skills we observed."

I pressed the power button on the side of the Mac, and the light flashed into my eyes to the point where they stung. I had to blink a few times before smiling at my test.

"What the hell is this?" Tara disgustedly questioned, glaring at her computer screen.

"It's Sudoku," Hoshina answered for her. "It's a puzzle game that originated from Japan."

"I have heard of this," Luis said, "but I don't know how it works."

"There are nine medium-sized boxes connected together, and you have to fill the numbers one through nine in each box. However, there's a catch. You can't have two of the same number in the same row, column, or box. That's what makes it hard. It gets harder when you don't have a lot of numbers in the puzzle to begin with."

"Correct, Kaitlyn," Burnie congratulated me. "It sounds like you played this before."

"I have books of these puzzles back at home, and I play on my computer and phone."

Diego's eyes arched. "You play this for fun?" he asked. "This looks like a torture device."

"I'll second that," Vishnal added.

"Well, you would have to learn fast then," Burnie interrupted us. "Your task is to complete one puzzle of Sudoku the fastest of the group. Who knows? The fastest might as well get a reward from me, Gus, Geoff, Joel, or Matt. The timer begins…now. Good luck, you six." Burnie activated something to make all of the computers go to the sudoku puzzles at the same time.

As soon as it started, I went to solving. Whenever I enter a puzzle like that one, I get so involved that I block out everything that's around me. I didn't care if Diego and Luis were talking to each other or not; I was really engaged into finishing first.

Tara's mouse was clicking away and the mistake buzzer kept going off. "This goddamn game! Work!"

"You can't take guesses in this game," Luis said. "It's either it fits or it doesn't. Guessing takes too much time away from the actual puzzle."

I was at one minute on the clock now. Burnie must've put all of us at the highest level sudoku puzzle because I was slower at this one than at all of the other puzzles before.

Vishnal was very quiet. Hoshina was the same, and her clicking of the mouse was fast. I was sure she knew a thing or two about sudoku as well. I wasn't so competitive when it came to puzzle games, but I was ravaging through that one today. It had to be done. I had to complete it the fastest. I was turning into a beast once again.

I finally finished the game at five minutes thirty-seven seconds.

"We have a finisher," Burnie announced, "I would like to see her face," meaning me.

Unconsciously, I stood up from my chair.

"Ah, Kaitlyn. I would love to speak with you in my office, please. Gus, do you mind taking over for me?"

"Not at all."

"Send any other finisher to my office, too." Burnie waved me over, so I grabbed my stuff and followed. "Kaitlyn, you amaze me more and more each time I get to know you."

"I just solved a sudoku puzzle, sir. I don't see how that's amazing."

"Not just that, Kaitlyn. You didn't put that you were a puzzle-solver on your resumé. Here at Rooster Teeth, we are actually interested in who is good at what. Why didn't you?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think it was relevant at the time," I answered bluntly.

"You're a present college student. Who told you that excuse?"

"It's not an excuse, I don't think."

"Who told you that theory then?"

I gulped. "My mom helped me create my resumé. She didn't know much about Rooster Teeth, so she added the mechanical things just to make it look interesting. I'm assuming to you that it looks dull as concrete, huh?"

Burnie twitched his nose. "If it were completely dull as concrete, I never would've invited you to Rooster Teeth in the first place."

"I'm confused. You do and don't like my resumé, yet I'm here?"

"No, I liked your resumé. I'm only shocked that you kept this puzzling talent a secret. Between you and me, I think you would be an interesting sort of fit for Achievement Hunter. We need people who are quick in the mind, and Ray seems to be the only one of that kind until today that is."

"So that's why you told us to send our favorite games last night through email," I said.

"Yup. I knew you had something special, but you happen to be more of a special case than I originally thought."

"Special case?" What exactly did Burnie have in mind for me?

"Yes. You will have a job, but I will also assign you a project I believe you can complete towards the end of the summer."

"Why me? That is if you don't mind me asking. I don't understand all of this."

Burnie reached over the desk, patted my head, and said, "You'll figure it all out in due time. What I've come up for you is this: I'm giving you a chance for you to talk to Geoff, and he will let you have a seat in Achievement Hunter. When you see him, he'll know why you're there."

"And the second half?"

"Rooster Teeth got huge, mind-blowing hits from _Lazer Team_. We need more films to release to the general public. You're a Theatre minor. I want you to create a script for our next film. It can be as serious, funny, romantic, or anything you want. Just make it, not good, but genius."

"You want a whole movie script by the end of summer?" I asked.

My boss raised his eyebrow. "You nervous?"

"Heck, yes! I mean perfecting something like that could take months!"

"Well, stop acting nervous and just focus on finding the perfect idea first. We're going to take baby steps. How about this? By Monday of next week, I want you to come into my office with your summary pitch. Understand?"

I muttered, "Easy enough."

"Perfectamundo, young padawan. You can hang out with your cohorts again. I'll be doing more interviews today."

"Thank you, Burnie. I appreciate your support."

"Don't thank me yet, Kaitlyn. There's still more to come."

* * *

"You have two jobs?" my coworkers exclaimed the moment I told them what Burnie told me. We just left the workplace, and we all were assigned our positions. Again, Tara wasn't with us. She was too privileged to walk to the hotel. In fact, she was the only intern with a car. Hoshina will be working with Jordan, the company's artist on drawing the artwork (since art was more her speciality). Luis is going to be working with me in the Achievement Hunter office because his true talents finally came through with Burnie today. Vishnal will be working in the Tech room, so he'll be sitting in the front row of each podcast. Diego will also be helping me with story writing, but he has his own projects. We're going to officially start the next day.

"Let me get this straight," Diego said, "On certain days, you'll be holding an Xbox controller, and on others, you'll be writing Rooster Teeth's next big film."

"You're making it sound like I asked to double dip," I muttered.

"Did you?" Luis questioned.

"No! Burnie just apparently likes me."

"Burnie likes you?" Hoshina broke in, "That doesn't sound normal."

Luis remarked, "Hoshina, don't be ridiculous. Burnie is not like that. This just means that Kaitlyn's true colors have finally blossomed to him, and he wants to make sure she's successful. Isn't that right, shorty?"

"That's what I should be thinking," I replied. What is Burnie planning for me? I have a feeling this is some scam. Burnie wants to lift my spirits because I'm the most nervous intern of them all, and he'll crush them later. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be more on my watch. I'm going to make sure no one makes a fool out of me, especially in this business.


	7. May 18, 2016

Testing Journal,

Today was the day I was going to work for the first time. I checked my emails the first moment I woke up to the alarm this time, and I found a message from Geoff. "_Hello, Kaitlyn, Geoff Ramsey here. I just want you to know that you are going to be working in Achievement Hunter today. Burnie wants me to remind you that you don't have to worry about the pitch until Monday since you'll have all the time in the world outside work to figure it out. Can't wait to see you in the office._" Oh, this was going to be fun.

"Good morning, sunshine," Luis said the moment I saw him downstairs in the hotel lobby.

"Waiting for me today?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Since we are going to be working today on whatever day is yours, why not? Wanna pick up some breakfast?"

"Do you mind if it's McDonald's?"

"Oh, what the hell."

* * *

Luis got a McGriddle, and I just got an egg, bacon, and cheese bagel without the bacon. I would normally not care because Erin would just steal the bacon off of the sandwich anyway, but she's not here still. I doubted Luis would want to eat bacon either. He's stuck on a diet and could only eat so much in one day. Being on the swim team does things to you, and Luis was a huge example. He had more weight the first time I met him. Over the years, he's been trying to lose it, which means no more stealing food off of people's plates.

"What are you excited for the most, Lui?" I questioned my best friend.

"Just sitting next to the members in general, Kaitlyn. I can't wait to be a part of "Go!"s, "Achievement HUNT"s, Minecraft, just everything. I'm going to be famous."

"Get it together, Romeo."

"I'm together, blondie, I'm together."

So we approached the Achievement Hunter office with the door shut. We thought it was odd since the door was supposed to be open for everyone coming into work. Luis explained that the only time the door is supposed to be closed is when they're recording stuff. Once we pushed the door open, the whole gang was clumped in a crowd, snapping pictures with their phones, shouting, "CHEESE!"

"Holy crap!" we screamed.

The men just laughed their asses right off their bodies. Gavin was the only person on the floor, clutching where his ribs are supposed to be. Michael leaned his back against the wall and started to crouch down until he was squatting against the wall. Jack, Geoff, and Ryan were just laughing off of each other. Ray just hit the wall twice.

"A simple hello would do, thank you very much," was my response to their sick humor.

"That wasn't funny!" Luis growled.

"You have to admit," Ryan said, "It was."

I just stomped my foot on the ground and held my fists to the sides. "If only you weren't my boss," I hissed at Geoff.

"I'm sorry," he responded, wiping the tears of humorous proportions from under his eyes. "This is so going on Twitter though."

_And I hate having a Twitter._

"Come on, guys, let's get these two to their new desks."

Gasping, Luis replied, "Finally."

"Luis, you get the desk in between Michael and Ryan. Kaitlyn, your desk is next to Ray's.

_I get to sit next to Ray? Well, it's better than sitting next to Ryan, the jackass who scared me two days ago._

Luis hopped in his chair and did a spin in it. "This is awesome."

"Don't break that chair," Jack warned. "We pay with our paychecks to replace those."

My buddy halted immediately. "Sorry."

I sat down in mine and took a gander at what I was handling with for the rest of the summer. The computer was sitting on the Xbox One box and the Playstation 4 console. The Wii U console was standing on the side. "I'm assuming the controllers to these are somewhere."

"We have 'em stored in the closet," Geoff informed.

"Thanks." I turned to Ray, and once we met eyes, he jerked his head towards his computer screen. _What was that?_ I asked myself. _Does he hate me now for beating him two days ago?_

"Alright, I hope you two are ready for your first assignments."

Luis and I both nodded at the same time.

Jack rubbed his hands together, cracking his knuckles in the process. With the beard, the action looked scary as hell. "It may seem that all of us play the same games during the day, but in reality, we don't. What fun would that be for the website if everyone is playing the same game at once, getting the same achievements at once?"

"Boring," I muttered.

"Exactly, Kaitlyn. That's why both of you interns are going in different directions. Your games are inside the first right drawer. That's what you'll be starting with."

That was exactly what I did. Open the drawer, and…Wow, Burnie took this puzzle thing to heart. "_Epic Sudoku One_?"

"It's a new puzzle game. You were so good at it yesterday that we thought it would be interesting to look at," Geoff explained.

"And I'm playing _Assassin's Creed_?" Luis questioned.

"We didn't get started on that one when we should've. Well, what are you guys waiting for?"

"Someone to ring the bell or something," I sarcastically responded.

Jack pushed a button on his computer, and the first level theme of Sonic the Hedgehog (the first game ever created in the franchise) blew up the room. "You don't have to listen to this. You have headphones."

What luck, I got a pink set. They went over my ears, and I couldn't hear the annoying but enjoyable score. I popped the Xbox game into the console. If I have to be frank here, I never wanted to play with an Xbox. I didn't grow up with the system. I only had the GameCube, Gameboys, Wiis, DS's, and Playstations. Plus, I heard bad things about the Xbox One, stalkerish things. I couldn't argue with anyone because it was the thing I had to use for the rest of the summer.

"Oh, and one more thing," Geoff interrupted. "I made two accounts for the both of you. The usernames are defaults, so you would have to change them if you want to be official on the Xbox system.

Good thing I didn't go into the game yet. I was wondering what Intern #1 meant. On the friends list, I can see all of the usernames, including Intern #2, which had to be Luis's default. In a split second, it was changed to RunnerGuitar since it has been his trademark for years. "I don't mean to be rude, but for an entertainment company, some of you have odd usernames."

The rest of Achievement Hunter began to laugh once more. "No offense taken," Geoff replied, "We don't take anything seriously in Achievement Hunter, but we make sure stuff gets done or else the website doesn't exist. If the website gets low funds, Burnie is going to fire our rear ends."

"Well, it would just be interesting to know how you came up with these."

Why I questioned about the usernames was because I was so used to seeing first letter initials connected to last names for all these years of living.

JackP is Jack's first name with his last name initial, so he didn't have to answer. I guess he expected me to know that, so I didn't ask. DGgeoff is odd, but it sounds more normal than the other usernames.

"Gavino Free is not your full name, is it, Gavin?" I asked.

"No, it's not. Gavino is a nickname, but it's funny you asked. There are some people who think my name is actually not Gavin," he answered, laughing in mid explanation.

""MLP Michael" is a play on words," Michael explains.

A lightbulb went off in my head after he said that. "You mean you exchanged "Most Valuable Player" with "Most Lovable Player"?"

"I wouldn't call myself "Lovable," but if that's what you want, then go right ahead."

I smirked. "Come on. If you say that you're married, that doesn't mean you're not lovable."

"That's another thing. I don't like to boast."

Then, I turned to Ryan. "BM Vagabond? Now, that's something interesting."

Before Ryan could even speak, Ray joined into the conversation with, ""BM" stands for "BrownMan." Vagabond means a traveler looking for work."

"That's not what my username stands for, Ray?" Ryan growled. "The Vagabond part is true because it's an actual word; however, it's a call sign from a character of mine in Wing Commander III &amp; IV. The BM means "Been Mawed." There's a level in Halo called "The Maw," and I made some joke, and it stuck. Thus, BM Vagabond was born."

"Well, that makes a lot more sense to me now," I responded. "Now, BrownMan? That has to be explained. You're not brown, Ray."

Ray's cheeks filled with pink color. "Um, I got that nickname in middle school. Nothing special really."

"What's wrong with you, Ray?" said Gavin, acting graveled, "You were never this cheeky about the BrownMan story."

"Something tells me that he's too embarrassed to tell it in front of a girl," Michael suggested.

"I am not!" snapped Ray.

"Well, I'm listening," I answered.

The employee who sits next to me at work now gulped. "Fine. I'll tell it to you, but I won't be the one speaking." Ray went to Youtube on his computer and searched for some video. How many times did he explain this to actually post it on the Internet?

According to the video, which was posted in 2011, Ray just moved to another middle school in New York, and he only made a few friends. There was this one girl who was passing out gum one day, and Ray wanted a stick. When he asked, the girl refused. Ray counted with the why-because-I'm-brown bit as a joke because he's Puerto Rican. It was hilarious to the other kids, but the girl was embarrassed because she was actually running out of gum, not being biased. Still, it was pretty fun. After a while, his friends finally said that Ray wasn't actually brown but more borderline tan. That was when people started calling him Tan Man. Ninth grade came about, and Ray got more color on his skin because he either went on vacation or starting to spend more time outside (he still doesn't know to this day), so his friends evolved him into Brown Man. The brown went away after a while, but people still called him that, so that's why his username is "BrownMan."

"That's a pretty funny story you got, Ray," I said after the video stopped playing. "I don't see why you would be embarrassed of telling it."

"Me neither," he muttered.

"Me neither," spoke Geoff. "Story time is over, everyone. Get to work."

"Yes, Father," everyone else except Luis and I moaned. He and I just shared looks across the room and shrugged. Well, better get started on my sudoku game. God knew how far I was going to go into it. I took a look at Ray again, and he just turned to his computer. Something was up with that boy, and I needed to know what it was. So help me god.

As far as my username went, I decided to create one that would bring honor instead of weirdness to the table. The white box had "TripleSApprentice" written in it. I hovered the pointer over the "Ok" button and clicked.

"What does that mean?" Ray questioned the moment the username popped up on his login screen.

"Something I made up."

"Why did you make it up?"

"You'll figure it out soon enough."

"Hmm. Just a question."

"Hmm."


End file.
